Polishing apparatus



March 24, 1936. D. H. 'GOODWILLIE I -2,035,229

/ POLiSHING APPARATUS Filed May 1, 1931 2v sheets-sheep 1 INVENTOR Dav/d H. G'oodw/ llle ATTORNEY March24, 1936- I D. H. GOOD'WILLIE,

POLISHING APPARATUS Filed May 1, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR :=lIiII-= :-III II:

David H. GOOdWi/[IQ ATTO RN ET Patented Mar. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE! POLISHING APPARATUS Application May 1, 1931, Serial No. 534,260

4 Claims.

This invention concerns the art of surfacing fiat sheets of material such as glass and the like and relates more particularly to the polishing thereof.

In one well-known process for surfacing sheet glass commonly termed the continuous system, the grinding and polishing of the glass is accomplished in a straight-away operation, a plurality of glass sheets to be surfacedbeing supported upon a train of cars or carriers and passed in a definite substantially horizontal path first beneath a series of grinding units and then beneath a series of polishing units. The present invention has been especially designed for and probably finds its greatest utility when used in such a system as described abovewherein the polishing units are caused to travel in the same direction as the glass sheets during the polishing operation, although obviously the principle of the invention may beadapted for use in other systems.

In the polishing of plate glass, the length of time required for the polishing operation and the quality of finish given to the glass is dependent to a large extent upon the polishing medium application to the sheet. The principal aim and object of this invention, therefore, reside in the provision of novel means for supplying the polishing medium to the glass in an effective and efiicient manner and in such a manner that a desirable finish may be obtained.

Another important object of the invention resides in the provision of means of the character above described whereby the desired quantity of polishing medium or material may be automatically supplied to the polishing unit or units at substantially predetermined intervals as they are caused to travel with the glass.

1 A-further object of the invention resides in the provision of means mounted at spaced points along the line of travel of the polishing units and acting automatically to control the supply of polishing material to said units at substantially predetermined intervals as the said units are passed therebeneath.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent during the course of the following description when taken in connec- 50 tion with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings forming a part of this application and wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of apparatus provided 55, by the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section thereof,

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of one of the polishing units,

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on line 66 of Fig. 2. 7

Referring to they drawings, 10 designates one of a plurality of sheets of glass which are adapted to be carried in a definite substantially horizontal path upon a train of cars or tables first beneath a series of grinding units (not shown) and then beneath a series of polishing units H. Each polishing unit includes a hollow supporting cross-beam l2 extending transversely above the glass and mounted at its opposite ends upon suitable trucks l3 and I4 movable along the tracks or guideways l5 and lfi'respectively arranged outwardly of but parallel with the line of travel of the glass. The polishing units are adapted to be propelled forwardly in the same direction as the movement of the glass sheets by any conventional or preferred driving means.

Each polishing unit II also includes a plurality of groups of polishing runners A, B and C arranged transversely of the glass sheets. Each group of runners consists of a series of polishing blocks I! carried by a spider frame [8 secured to the lower end of a vertical spindle l9 which extends upwardly through the cross-beam I2 and is journaled in bearings carried thereby. The several groups of polishing runners of each unit may be driven from a single motor 20, the shaft 2! of which has keyed thereto a plurality of worms 22, one for each spindle I9 and adapted to mesh with a worm gear 23 fixed thereto.

To assist in the polishing of the glass, a suitable polishing material such as a mixture of rouge and water or the like is adapted to be fed upon the surface of the glass and this may be; accomplished by utilizing a vertical spindle l9 of hollow construction and in feeding the rouge mixture downwardly therethrough, the said rouge being supplied to the spindle through a trough 24 associated with the upper end thereof. It will be noted upon reference to Fig. 1 that the troughs 24 are substantially rectangular in plan, with the major axis extending in the direction of travel of the glass so that the troughs of adjacent polishing units ll substantially abut one another end to end. This arrangement of troughs is desirable in order that when the rouge is fed to the polishing units or machines in the manner about to be described, it will not flow downwardly between the troughs of adjacent machines.

The present invention relates primarily to the provision of novel means operable automatically to feed a predetermined amount of polishing material into the troughs 24 at predetermined intervals as the polishing machines are caused to move forwardly with the glass. To this end, there are provided the three spaced, parallel, longitudinally extending supply conduits 25, 26 and 21, one conduit being provided for each group of polishing runners A, B and C and positioned directly above the respective trough 24. Each supply conduit is provided at spaced points along the length thereof with a plurality of lateral outlet openings 28, and associated with each opening is a valve for controllingthe flow of abrasive material therefrom. The valves carried by the three supply conduits 25, 26 and 21 are designated 29, 29 and 29 and these valves are preferably arranged substantially opposite one another as shown in Fig. 1 so that they can be operated by a common actuating means. It will, of course, be understood that a similar group of valves 29, 29 and 29 is associated with each series of outlets 28 along the length.

of the supply conduits 25, 25 and 21.

Each of the valves 29, 29 and 29 comprises a valve casing or housing 36 having a central, vertically disposed bore 3! which is substantially cone-shaped and adapted to register with the respective outlet opening 28 in the corresponding supply conduit when the valve is secured in place. The valve housing is positioned between and preferably formed integral with the two vertical side plates 32 and 33 which extend upwardly beyond the supply conduit and are provided with ofiset, internally threaded portions 34 and 35 through which are inserted set screws 35 and 31 engaging the fiat surfaces 36 formed on the top of the supply conduit and by means of which the valve is secured thereto.

Each conduit 25, 26 and 2! is preferably provided with a lining 39 of rubber or the like, and similarly, each valve housing 33 is also adapted to contain a removable hollow compressible member or liner 48 preferably of rubber or some other suitable resilient material which provides the regulatable passage for fiuid through the valve. This liner may be inserted into the housing through the enlarged inner end thereof and the inner end of the said liner may then be clamped between the housing and supply conduit as indicated at 4!. Thus, that portion of the liner which is clamped between the housing and conduit serves also as a packing to prevent leakage of the valve so that even though the outer surface of the conduit be somewhat uneven or roughened, the liner can be readily compressed to provide a tight fit. The liner 40 may extend entirely through and outwardly beyond the valve housing as shown in! Fig. 2 and is adapted to discharge the polishingmaterial into the troughs 24 of the moving polishing units ii.

The numeral 42 designates a vertically disposed lever arm pivotally mounted at its lower end upon a transverse pin 43 carried by the spaced plates 32 and 33. This lever arm is also provided adjacent its lower end with an enlarged portion 44 preferably formed with an undercut groove within which is secured the compressing member 45 which may also be formed of rubber or the like, if desired, and which is operable through an opening 46 in the valve housing 30 to compress the liner 40 when the lever arm is swung to the left about its pivot 43.

The valve housing 30 is further provided with a second opening positioned directly opposite the first opening and being closed by a plate 41. The inner surface of this plate is also provided with an undercut groove within which may be secured a second compressing member 48 similar to and adapted to cooperate with the first compressing member 45 to control the effective opening through the valve. The valve is normally maintained closed by means of the spring 49 connected at one end to a transverse pin 50 carried by the fixed plates 32 and 33 and at its opposite end to the lever arm 42. Thus, the spring 49 tends to swing the lever arm 42 to the left about its pivot 43 whereby the members 45 and 48 cooperateto compress the liner 40 and thereby shut off the flow of rouge therethrough.

As pointed out above, the valves, 29, 29 and 29 of each group are adapted to be operated simultaneously and from a common actuating means automatically operable at predetermined intervals. Accordingly, there is arranged to one side of the line of polishing machines I I the longitudinally extending supporting means 5| which comprises generally the two spaced channel beams 52 and 53 rigidly clamped together at spaced points by the upper and lower plates 54 and 55 through which pass bolts 56. Carried by the lower plate 55 opposite each group of valves is a substantially U-shaped bracket 51 within the spaced side portions of which is supported a horizontal rod 58. This rod has loosely mounted thereupon a sleeve carrying the three spaced vertically disposed lever arms 6|, 62 and 63 connected together at their upper ends by a crosspiece 64 having the vertically elongated openings 65, 63 and 61. Extending through these three openings are the rods 10, H and 12 respectively, the rod 10 being threaded at its outer end as at I3 and received within a tubular member 14 pivoted as at 15 to the operating lever 42 of valve 29b carried by supply conduit 21. The rods H and 12 are similarly connected at their outer ends to the valves 29 and 29 respectively carried by conduits 25 and 26.

Threaded upon the opposite end of'each rod 10, H and 12 forwardly of the lever arms 6| 62' and 63 is a wing nut 16 and, upon rotation thereof, the maximum effective openings of the valves may be regulated independently of one another. Due to the fact that the rods 10 and 12 are necessarily quite long, they may be supported intermediate their ends upon the projections 11 and 18 formed integralwith the plates 33 and 32 respectively of the valve 29 carried by conduit 25.

The sleeve 60 referred to above is also provided with the two spaced depending legs 19 and 80 carrying at their lower ends a transverse horizontal pin 8| upon which is loosely mounted the roller 82, said roller being movable along pin 8! and being held in the desired position either to the right or to the left of the longitudinal center thereof, by means of a latch plate 83 pivoted at its upper end upon a pin 84 and having a notch 84 therein so that it will fit over the pin 8| as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The advantages to be derived from such a construction will be more fully hereinafter apparent.

Positioned outwardly of the stationary supporting means 5| and extending longitudinally thereof and parallel therewith is an operating shaft which is adapted to carry for each group of valves 29, 29 and 29 an actuating cam member 86. This member comprises the two parts 81 and 88 which are adapted to fit snugly around the shaft 85, said parts being provided at opposite sides of the shaft with aligned ears 89 through which pass the securing bolts 90. The actuating member 86 is also provided with a forwardly projecting cam plate 9| secured to the part 81 thereof by means of fastening elements 92 received within openings 93.

In the operation of the invention, the springs 49 are preferably of sufiicient strength to swing the lever arms 42 to the left about their pivots 43 so as to normally maintain the valves 29, 29 and 29 closed due to the compressing of the compressible members 48. When the lever arms 42 are thus drawn to the left, the corresponding movement of rods 18, 1| and 12 will cause the lever arms 8|, 62 and 63 to pivot upon pin 58 whereby to move the roller 82 outwardly to its position indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2. However, upon rotation of shaft 85 in a counter-clockwise. direction as indicated by the arrows, the cam plate 9| engaging roller 82 will force the same inwardly thereby swinging the lever arms 6|, 62 and 63 to the right whereupon the said lever arms engaging wing nuts 16 will function to draw the rods 10, 1| and 12 outwardly so as to move the lever arms 42 against the action of springs 49 to open the valves. When the cam plate 9|, upon continued rotation of actuating member 86, passes out of engagement with roller 82, the said springs 49 will again serve to swing the lever arms 42 to the left so as to draw the rods 10, H and 12 inwardly and thereby swing the lever arms BI, 62 and 63 about their pivot to move the said roller 82 outwardly so that it will be again disposed in the, path of travel of the cam plate 9|. From the above, it will be seen that upon each revolution of the shaft 85, each group of valves 29, 29 and 29 will be periodically opened and will be caused to remain open just so long as the cam plate 9| is in engagement with roller 82. Therefore, upon continued rotation of shaft 85, each group of valves will be opened automatically at predetermined intervals and will be caused to remain open for a predetermined length of time to permit the flow of the desired amount of polishing material from the supply conduits to the polishing machines.

As pointed out above, a plurality of groups of valves 29, 29 and 29 are adapted to be positioned at spaced points longitudinally of the line of polishing machines and an actuating member 86 is provided for each group. In the event all of the valves of the various groups were opened and closed simultaneously, it will be apparent that an excessive drain would be created upon the polishing material within the supply conduits 25, 26 and 21. Therefore, it is desirable that the various groups of valves be opened more or less successively rather than simultaneously. To this end, each member 88 is fixed upon the shaft 85 by means of a key 94 carried thereby and fitting within one of the keyways 95 in said member. It will be noted that there are provided a plurality of key-ways 95 so that the position of any one actuating member 86 can be varied relative to the other members. In other words, the several actuating members 86 can be arranged at various positions around the shaft 85 so that they are, in effect, disposed in staggered relation with respect to one another whereby they will engage the rollers 82 of their respective groups of valves at different times. In order to provide for a finer control, a plurality of openings 93 are provided in the actuating member 86 so that the position of the cam plate 9| upon the part 81 can be varied. The shaft 85 may be driven in any desired manner such as by means of the conventional chain and sprocket drive 96.

If it is preferred for any reason not to operate any one group of valves, the roller 82 of this group is adapted to be moved along the pin 8| out of the path of the respective cam plate 9|. This may be effected by simply lifting the latch plate 83, sliding the roller 82 along the pin out of the path of the cam plate, and then again lowering the said latch plate to maintain the roller in such position.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred embodiment of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the in-' vention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In the continuous system for surfacing sheet glass in which both the glass carrying tables and the polishing units travel in the same direction during polishing and wherein each unit includes a plurality of polishing runners carried by a hollow vertical spindle, means for feeding a polishing material through the spindles to the runners during the travel of the units, including a stationary conduit mounted above the path of travel of the units and adapted to contain the polishing material, a valve carried by said conduit, and' feed the polishing material to the polishing units as the said units pass therebeneath, said means embodying a revolving cam member, a pivotally mounted lever arm, connections between one end of the lever arm and the valve, a roller carried at the opposite end of the lever arm and normally disposed in the path of travel of the cam member, and means whereby said roller canbe moved out of the path of travel of said cam member and maintained in such position.

2. In the continuous system for surfacing sheet glass in'which both the glass carrying tables and the polishing units travel in the same direction during polishing and wherein each unit includes a plurality of polishing runners carried by a hollow vertical spindle, means for feeding a polishing material through the spindles to the runners during the travel of the units, including a stationary conduit mounted above the path of travel of the units and adapted to contain the polishing material, a valve carried by said conduit, means for normally maintaining said valve closed, and mechanically actuated means operable automatically for rendering said closing means ineffective to periodically open the valve at predetermined intervals to feed the polishing material to the polishing units as the said units pass therebeneath, said means embodying a revolving cam member, a lever arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends, connections between one end of the lever arm and the valve, a roller carried at the opposite end of said lever arm and normally disposed in the path of travel of the cam member, and means whereby said roller can be moved out of the path of travel of said cam member and maintained position.

3. In the continuous system for surfacing sheet glass in which both the glass carrying tables and the polishing units travel in the same direction during polishing and wherein each unit includes a plurality of polishing runners carried by a hollow vertical spindle, means for feeding a polishing material through the spindles to the runners during the travel of the units, including a stationary conduit mounted above the path of travel of said units and adapted to contain the polishing material, a plurality of valves carried by said conduit, and separate means operating automatically for opening and closing each valve at predetermined intervals tofeed the polishing material to the polishing units as the said units pass therebeneath, said means embodying an actuating member, one for each valve, a common shaft upon which the actuating members for the several valves are secured, a cam plate carried by each actuating member, means for varying the position of said cam plate upon said member, a pivotally mounted lever arm assoin such ciated with each actuating member and operable by'the cam plate carried thereby, and connec tions between each lever arm and its respective valve. g r r 4. Means for feeding a polishing material to a plurality of polishing machines traveling in a substantially straight line, including a plurality of spaced substantially parallel conduits extending in the direction of travel of said machines, a valve carried by each conduit, with the several valves being positioned substantially opposite one another, each of said valves including a hollow compressiblemember and a pivotally mounted arm for compressing said member, means for normally urging the arm of each valve in one direction to maintain the said valve closed, a pivotally mounted operating lever positioned to one side of the line of polishing machines, connections between the valve armsand the operating lever, and a rotatable cam member positioned to engage the said lever and to swing the same about its pivot whereby to simultaneously open the valves at predetermined intervals.

DAVID H. GOODWILLIE. 

